Beatriz Pascual Wallace graduated in 2001 and was an iSchool student when she attended her first award ceremony for children’s literature. The excitement in the air made Wallace add “serve on Newbery committee,” to her professional bucket list. The John Newbery Medal is a children’s literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children. 

Wallace is a children’s librarian at the Seattle Public Library, describing libraries as, “essential to the health of a community.” Not only does she help children within her community, but she also promotes diverse books by serving on different children’s book award committees. 

Currently Wallace is serving on the Pura Belpré Awards Committee. In this position, she is working with six other colleagues helping to choose picture books, chapter books and fiction for children and teens written by Latino authors. After a lot of deliberation and sifting through hundreds of titles, they choose what they feel are the  strongest books, and recognize them at an awards ceremony.  This is also given by the Association for Library Service.

While she is proud of her work in the Pura Belpré Awards Committee, she will forever be grateful for her chance to serve on the Newbery Committee. 

In 2020, Wallace finally checked off something from her professional bucket list, when the vice president of the Newbery Committee asked her to join. Her answer was, “Ummm, Hello? Yes!” 

While she was serving, the committee made a historic choice — picking the first cartoon style graphic novel, “New Kid” by Jerry Craft. Wallace was excited to attend her first award show, describing it as, “Sort of like the Oscars if you’re a children’s librarian.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Newberry Awards banquet was canceled the year that Wallace served on the committee. She was still glad to have had the opportunity to be part of the selection process.

But nothing beats the time she was an iSchool student at the children’s book award ceremony when the, “excitement was so palpable, and my heart was racing so fast,” Wallace said.